How Do Mirages Work?

Mirages happen when the ground is very hot and the air is cool. The hot ground warms a layer of air just above the ground. When the light moves through the cold air and into the layer of hot air it is refracted (bent). A layer of very warm air near the ground refracts the light from the sky nearly into a U-shaped bend.

Why do mirages look like water?

The “bent light from the sky” is refracted as it passes from cooler air into hotter air and back up to your eye. ... Combining all of this together, refracted light from the sky is interpreted as straight, letting us see an image of the sky on the ground. This is why many mirages appear as blue water.

What creates a mirage?

Mirage, in optics, the deceptive appearance of a distant object or objects caused by the bending of light rays (refraction) in layers of air of varying density.